Damiana
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Damiana ( Turnera diffusa ) |
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| Willd. ex Schult. |
Damiana ( Turnera diffusa ) is a species in the genus of turnera ( Turnera ). Their natural range extends from southern North America to Argentina. This species is best known for its ascribed effect as a natural aphrodisiac , but it is sometimes used. a. Also used as a tonic because of the essential oils such as cineol and thymol it contains for colds and because of the caffeine content .
description
Damiana is an often multi-branched, small shrub that reaches heights of 1 to 2 meters. All parts of the plant are finely or downy hairy.
The leaves are very variable in shape and size. The spectrum ranges from lanceolate to spatula-shaped to obovate. As a rule, the leaves are between 1 and 2 centimeters long. The leaf margin is serrated or notched. The base is wedge-shaped. The leaf ribs run along the top of the leaf. You are sunk. The leaf hairs are heaped on the ribs.
The hermaphrodite flowers are very short stalked, almost sessile. The chalice has five teeth. The petals are spatulate and bright yellow. They are 4 to 8 millimeters long and clearly protrude beyond the calyx teeth. The flowering period extends from early to late summer.
The round oval capsule fruit with a diameter between 1.5 and 2 millimeters smells sweet and tastes like a fig; it is single-chambered and opens with three flaps.
ingredients
The leaves in particular contain many terpenes , including cineol , arbutine , cadines , damianine , p-cymene , pinene and thymol , but also tannin and caffeine . The plant's essential oils are highly volatile. The smell of the leaves is aromatic and the taste is bearable. The active ingredients evaporate at a temperature of 190 ° C.
distribution
Damiana loves dry, rocky open locations . It is often found on limestone, on cliffs or in mixed forests at altitudes between 500 and 1950 meters.
In the north the distribution area extends to the United States. There this species is found in California and Texas. To the south, the distribution area extends through all of Central America via the Caribbean islands to Argentina. The main areas of distribution are in Baja California and northern Mexico. This species is rare in Guatemala.
Etymology and systematics
The common name Damiana is derived from the patron saint of pharmacists, St. Damian .
The scientific name of the genus Turnera honors the British ornithologist and botanist William Turner (around 1510–1568). The specific epithet diffusa is Latin and means "spread out". It was chosen because of the often widespread growth pattern.
In addition to the valid scientific name, the following synonyms exist : Turnera aphrodisia L.F.Ward , Turnera aplirodisiaca Willd. , Turnera hlirrlifiisa Endl. and Turriera pringlei Rose . Damiana, which is widespread in Baja California, was described by Ignatz Urban as the variety Turnera diffusa var. Aphrodisiaca (Ward) Urban , but this view is no longer generally followed today.
The first description of Turnera diffusa was made in 1820 by Carl Ludwig von Willdenow in Josef August Schultes : Systema Vegetabilium , 6, S. 679. Turnera diffusa is standard Microphyllae Urb. from the genus Turnera in the subfamily Turneroideae within the family Passifloraceae .
use
The leaves are harvested during the flowering period to produce the pharmaceutical drug .
Damiana is a popular medicinal herb, especially in Mexico. There it is used under the names Misibcoc or Chac-Mixib to cure colds, infectious diseases or diseases of the blood vessels. For this, a tea is made from dried leaves or a liqueur is flavored with the leaves. The dried leaves can also be found in markets in Mexico and Guatemala. Smaller quantities are also available in the United States and Europe, where damiana is relatively unknown as a medicinal plant.
Mahinda Martínez claims in his book Las Plantas Medicinales de México that Damiana was traditionally used as an aphrodisiac and tonic by the Mayans . Christian Rätsch describes the plant in the encyclopedia of psychoactive plants as a reliable remedy in cases of sexual impotence, especially if this impotence is due to excessive sexual activity. However, damiana would also be prescribed for spermatorrhea (flow of semen without sexual arousal) and orchitis (inflammation of the testicles).
Thomas P. Lowry writes in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs that women have reported to him that the plant has a relaxing effect on menstrual pain and cramps.
However, damiana is also used as a drug and aphrodisiac. Bert Marco Schuldes reports in his book Psychoactive Plants about erotic stimulation, an intensification of erotic feelings and skin sensitivity. Recent human medical and animal experiments confirm the suspected effect as an aphrodisiac and suggest an anti- progesterone effect originating from Damiana , which could explain the increase in libido attributed to the herb .
Damiana leaves can be smoked pure or in herbal mixtures as a tobacco substitute.
See also
literature
- Damiana at rain-tree.com.
- Paul C. Standley, Louis O. Williams: Turnera diffusa . In: Flora of Guatemala . tape 24 , part VII, no. 1 . Chicago Natural History Museum, Chicago 1961, p. 113 f . ( Full text ).
Web links
Individual evidence
Most of the information in this article is taken from the source given under literature; the following sources are also cited:
- ↑ Andrew Chevallier: The great lexicon of medicinal plants . Dorling Kindersley, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-8310-0167-7 , p. 144 .
- ↑ Vaporize Damiana. Zamnesia, archived from the original on April 16, 2018 ; accessed on April 16, 2018 (German).
- ↑ Helmut Genaust: Etymological dictionary of botanical plant names. 3rd, completely revised and expanded edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-937872-16-7 , pp. 208, 665 (reprint from 1996).
- ↑ Ignatz Urban: T. diffusa var. Aphrodisiaca . In: Yearbook of the Botanical Garden Berlin . tape 2 , 1883, p. 127 .
- ^ Josef August Schultes: Systema Vegetabilium. 6, 1920, p. 679 scanned in at biodiversitylibrary.org.
- ↑ Mahinda Martínez: Las Plantas Medicinales de México . 3. Edition. Editorial Botas, Mexico City 1989.
- ↑ Christian Rätsch: Encyclopedia of psychoactive plants: botany, ethnopharmacology and application . AT Verlag, Arau 2004, ISBN 3-85502-570-3 , p. 122 f., 160 .
- ↑ Thomas P. Lowry: Damiana . In: Journal of Psychoactive Drugs . tape 16 , no. 3 , 1984, pp. 267-268 .
- ^ Bert Marco Schuldes: Psychoactive plants . 13th edition. Nachtschatten Verlag, Solothurn 1994, ISBN 3-925817-64-6 , p. 74-75 .
- ↑ Estrada-Reyes R, Ortiz-López P, Gutiérrez-Ortíz J, Martínez-Mota L: Turnera diffusa Wild (Turneraceae) recovers sexual behavior in sexually exhausted males. In: J Ethnopharmacol. June 25, 2009, Vol. 123, No. 3, pp. 423-429, PMID 19501274 .
- ↑ Estrada-Reyes R, Carro-Juárez M, Martínez-Mota L: Pro-sexual effects of Turnera diffusa Wild (Turneraceae) in male rats involves the nitric oxide pathway. In: J Ethnopharmacol. March 7, 2013, Volume 146, No. 1, pp. 164-172, PMID 23298455 .
- ↑ D. Sinner: The steroid replacement 2006. 1st edition, BMS-Verlag, Gronau 2006, ISBN 3-00-018077-X , pp. 227-228.
